Tuesday, 9 December 2014

La Belle et la Bête is a fantastical retelling of the
popular fairytale ‘Beauty and the Beast’. As Crowther states in his review it’s
“telling a familiar fairy-tale with pure imagery and enchantment through the
sensuous devices of the screen” (Crowther, unknown). Aided well by it’s design
it certainly seems magical and much like a fairytale.

Figure 2. Dining Hall Still

What’s magical about La Belle et la Bête is the way the
special effects are done as Harley says “The simple and surreal effects bind
the spell: by using the tangible magic of hands through walls, moving statues,
steamy paws and the rest, Cocteau makes rapt believers of us all – adults and
children alike.” (Harley, 2013). Though this is not realistic the effects instead
look dreamlike and fit in well with the fairytale setting of the film. This
films effects instead appeal to the children within us rather than the
realistic thoughts of an adult.

Figure 3. Castle Still

The film also has a very elegant set design especially
within the beasts’ castle. In his article Caldwell mentions that “the gorgeous
production design and magical special effects go a long way in making it
palatable” (Caldwell, 2011). The production design in the film has been deeply
considered, with small elements making the elegance and beauty shine through.
For example as shown in Figure 3 the soft net curtains that drape as Belle
explores the castle add to the overall look of glamour in the castle. There are
also the objects in her room which add to the grandness of this fairytale
remake.

La Belle et la Bête is an inspiration to production
designers and an example of making your props and set feel as if it is part of
the same world.

2 comments:

I will comment on this one, but it the comments stand for Black Narcissus too. Just a couple of points really... firstly, make sure that you italicise your quotes - this just helps separate them form your text a bit. Also, double check what you need in your bibliography as at the moment, you are missing some of the required information - look here - http://community.ucreative.ac.uk/Harvard-Referencing